Stores like these are a rarity these days, but they're essential. The staff I talked to were extremely helpful too. Visit your local hardware store and keep them alive.
I usually make a point to support local businesses, but after my recent experience at Irvines Home Hardware in Haddington, I feel compelled to share my dissatisfaction. I visited the store with my 4-year-old son, who was calmly bringing a product we intended to purchase to the counter. Suddenly, a woman with blonde hair behind the counter started screaming at him, "PUT THAT BACK, THAT IS NOT A TOY." Her aggressive tone and behavior were completely uncalled for against any customer, but especially towards a child. My son was so startled that he burst into tears. In all my years of shopping, I have never encountered such unbalanced and rude behavior from an employee for no apparent reason. This incident has left a very negative impression on me. Moreover, upon looking at other reviews, it’s clear that this isn’t an isolated incident. There are several comments spanning years mentioning similar experiences with the same employee. It’s disheartening to see that the business has not taken these complaints seriously and allowed such behavior to continue. Supporting local businesses is so important to me, but in this case, I cannot in good conscience continue to do so. Irvines Home Hardware needs to address this recurring issue with their staff if they want to maintain their customer base and reputation. EDIT After response from owner: The reply from the owner is at best completely fictitious, completely reframing something as a safety issue where there was none, and also framing something as concern for a child's safety (there was none), trying to frame the mother as negligent and not present (not true), and lying about what and how their employees talk to customers (not true). Furthermore to try and frame the employee as more belivable because she herself is a mother is both completely irrelevant to the claim but also shows how disingenuous the owner is being. For anyone reading both sides and being unsure of who to believe here I would urge you to sort reviews by rating, the same employee has a history of yelling at people going several years back which can only lead you to conclude the owner does not care. This is a complete non-apology (they even mention “i'm sorry that you feel that way“, twice!) and if you look through their responses nothing is ever their fault. They take no accountability and only reply to customers to seem proactive, it would be less insulting to just not respond at all.
First and foremost, a very friendly place. It feels very homely and family run (although I don’t know if it actually is). Anyways, ALL the staff deserve recognition for their first-class customer care. Secondly, this shop has everything you will ever need. Why bother tramping around a huge warehouse several miles away, when everything (and even a bit more) is available right here in Irvine’s. Also walking around Irvine’s, I have been impressed on how logically things have been laid out. Very helpful. And finally, if you look a bit lost when searching for the right ‘thingy-ma-boab,’ someone is always on hand to find it for you - and, if necessary, give expert advice. I would prefer not to give 5 stars for Irvine’s, but 7 - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Well laid out shop with an extensive range of household, DIY and gardening products. Friendly, helpful staff with home delivery available.
Easy layout to find what you need staff are nice
A shop that utilises every piece of ground space, as a result it has all those little nick backs, as well as the bigger ones, that you might want. The lady who served us was pleasant the chap with was a real grump, TBH I felt he didn't want us in the store!! So, it has a lot of stuff but (possibly as a result of being an independent shop) it's markedly more expensive. If your buying more than an odd item you might want to consider a chain store. I know that means the small shops get pushed out but they could form a cooperative with other similar shops to help keep prices down, just a thought.
Lovely shop, immaculate and very Clean, staff friendly and very helpful, got everything we needed and a few extras to. Recommend a visit.
We’ve recently moved to the area and assumed we’d need to keep driving to B&Q for most DIY needs. But I’m delighted to find that that is definitely not the case. This shop is so much bigger than it looks from outside and has EVERYTHING. It’s got tools, fixtures & fittings, electricals, decorating stuff, gardening, storage, kitchenware. And despite the varied stock, the store wasn’t cluttered. The staff were really friendly and the prices seemed reasonable to me. Will definitely be back soon!
Absolutely excellent service today, as always! Called with a query about an item on the website and Ann went to physically check it for me and go through my options and prices. She was happy to reserve them and when I went to collect a short time later they were ready and waiting at the till. I even got help to carry my purchases to the car. Thanks again!
Irvines Home Hardware is located at 34 Court St, Haddington EH41 3NP, UK
You can contact Irvines Home Hardware at +44 1620 822334
You can find directions to Irvines Home Hardware by following this map link